Sofia - Romania and Bulgaria - page 666

Ruse 23.60/18.90 lv 6 3 fast

Sandanski 12.80/10.20 lv 4 3 fast

Varna 29.50/23.60 lv (fast), 36.90/29.60 lv (ex-

press)

7½-9 5 fast & 1 express

Vidin 17.30/13.30 lv (fast) 5 3 fast

Getting Around

To/From the Airport
Sofia airport ( 937 2211; www.sofia-airport.bg ; off bul Brussels) is located 12km east
of the city centre. Minibus 30 shuttles between the airport and pl Nezavisimost for a flat
fare of 1.50 lv; you can pick it up outside the Sheraton Hotel. Less convenient are bus 84
from Terminal 1 and bus 284 from Terminal 2 (which handles the bulk of international
flights), both of which take a slow and meandering route before depositing you opposite
Sofia University.
When you emerge into the arrivals hall you will immediately be greeted by taxi drivers
offering you a ride into town, at often ridiculously inflated rates; bypass these and instead
head to the reputable OK-Supertrans taxi ( 973 2121; www.oktaxi.net ) office counter,
where you can book an official, meter-equipped taxi. They will give you a slip of paper
with the three-digit code of your cab, which will normally be immediately available. If
there happen to be none available, you can try to negotiate an unmetered rate with one of
the other taxis, but check the price carefully first. A taxi (using the meter) from the airport
to the city centre should cost no more than 15 lv.

Car
Frequent public transport, cheap taxis and horrendous traffic all provide little or no incent-
ive to drive a private or rented car around Sofia. If you wish to explore further afield,
though, a car would certainly come in handy. Rental outlets include the following:
Avis ( 945 9224; www.avis.bg ; Sofia airport, terminal 2; 9am-9pm)
Hertz ( 439 0222; www.hertz.bg ; bul Nikola Vaptsarov 53; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Fri,
10am-2pm Sat; 88)
Sixt ( 945 9276; www.tsrentacar.com ; Sofia Airport, terminal 2; 8am-11pm)